212 SUNSHINE AND SPORT IN 



allies, and prefer to wage indirect war on the tick 

 population by fighting the mungoose and thus 

 encouraging the restoration of native birds and 

 reptiles. The whole of Jamaica's economic zoology 

 is, it will be seen, in a House-that-jack-built muddle, 

 and to get the house once more in order will need 

 clear heads and open purses. 



Another most interesting small bird with which 

 (alas ! out of season) I made friends was the 

 " September," or petchary (Pitangus caudifasci- 

 atus], a toothsome table-bird in the month from 

 which he takes his name, but in spring-time merely 

 an object of interest to the zoologist. He is one 

 of the family of tyrant-birds, and he justifies the 

 relationship by boldly attacking any other bird, 

 even of the size of the "John Crow," that may 

 venture too near his nest. More than once I 

 watched that unwieldy vulture in headlong flight 

 before a bird that looks no bigger than our lark, 

 and this little drama of the air suggested to me 

 that, although we regard the vulture as a carrion- 

 scavenger only, the petchary probably knows that 

 it will raid a nest and eat the young when occasion 

 offers. The spectacle of a small bird putting 

 heavier fowl to flight can be witnessed at home 

 without going all the way to Jamaica, for I have 

 seen the swallow chase the owl, the robin chase 

 the magpie, the skua chase the gull, and the gull 

 chase the gannet. Indeed it almost looks in every 

 case as if the consciousness of guilt robbed the 

 stronger of its strength and put Goliath once again 

 at the mercy of David. 



The "Tom Fool" (Myiarchus validus], a 

 common bird in the Moneague district, owes its 



